


The Other Parent

by Arithra



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/M, Family Feels, Felix & his new moms, Humor, I did not tag the pairings because the focus is Felix's (and Glenn's) suffering, M/M, Step-parents, Walking In On Someone, now with all ships listed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:13:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25032250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithra/pseuds/Arithra
Summary: Rodrigue remarries (His sons suffer.) And the world changes just a bit.Or: The five stepmothers Felix could have had, and the one true (b)romance.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Lambert Egitte Blaiddyd/Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius, Manuela Casagranda/Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius, Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius/Dorothea Arnault, Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius/Flayn, Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius/Mercedes von Martritz, Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 14
Kudos: 79





	The Other Parent

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ellisama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellisama/gifts).



> Happy Birthday! I hope this makes you smile!  
> It did not quite go in the direction I originally intended, but the general premise remains the same: Felix is suffering!  
> Thanks again to @ardentiia for the beta. You really saved me!

  1. **Manuela**



The first clue Felix got that something was wrong was the short letter his brother sent him. It only held his name and two words: _ Felix, I’m sorry _ .

Felix blinked at it, frowned, and turned the paper around. There was nothing on the back. Next to him, Dimitri noticed his expression and turned to him.

“Is something wrong, Felix?”

Unsure, Felix shrugged. “Glenn seems to think so.”

That drew the king’s attention as well, and he set down his eating utensils. Lambert’s stare went from the letter in Felix’s hand to his gaze. “What does he say?”

While his father traveled to the monastery to attend to some mischief his brother had gotten into, he had left Felix under the supervision of the king in Fhirdiad. Felix liked that just fine. It meant he got to spend more time with Dima, and even if he had to attend all of the prince’s classes with him, that was a price he was willing to pay. 

He also liked the king. When he was little, he used to call him Uncle Lambert at the king’s insistence, but eventually his father had put a stop to it. He never managed to reach quite the same level of formality that Ingird and Sylvain used, however, even if he tried. 

So without another word, he handed over the letter. Lambert took it. Read it. And blinked. He looked just as confused as Felix felt. Still, he gave Felix a reassuring smile. 

“Your brother has a sense for dramatics,” Lambert said humorously. “I’m sure it is nothing. If something bad happened I would have been informed.” He glanced down at the letter again. “And your brother is capable of writing proper reports.”

The king set the letter down on the table. “He is just being a teenager.”

Next to Felix, Dimitri leaned forward. “What does that mean?”

King Lambert laughed. “Teenagers have the ability to turn anything into a drama.”

Not understanding, Felix exchanged a look with Dimitri, who shrugged in puzzlement. Felix put it aside. Unless a messenger burst into the room in the next moment, it was probably nothing. 

Glenn was strange sometimes. Once, they had walked past a group of knights training their grappling skills and he had walked into a wall. So the king was probably right. 

Moreover, the main course was being brought in. And it was steak.

\--

Felix’s father returned a week later. The visit had lasted longer than his usual ones, but no emergency had come up, so he had probably just spent some time with Glenn. They met him in the courtyard. 

Rodrigue smiled when he saw them and made his way over quickly. Thankfully, it wasn’t a formal event and no one needed to stand in ceremony. Felix hated that, and he knew he wasn’t alone. The king shared his opinion. King Lambert could make the best faces behind Felix’s father’s back when he instructed them strictly what to do. Fighting the urge to laugh had given Felix a great poker face. 

A poker face that he lost the moment his father reached him. 

“Felix,” his father said, picking him up like he hadn’t done since Felix was really little. The smile on his face was wide. 

Felix stared at him with wide eyes, his response automatic. “Father.”

If anything, Rodrigue’s smile only grew and he set Felix down on the ground again. Felix stumbled slightly, but a hand landed on his shoulder, steadying him. Felix looked up to see the king.

“What has put you in such a good mood, Rodrigue?” The king leaned forward, his hand still on Felix’s shoulder. There was a twinkle in his eye.

“I met someone,” Felix’s father confessed, his smile looking very…satisfied. Like he ate something good. 

“Ohhh,” the king said, laughter in his voice and shaking his broad shoulders. Felix looked at Dimitri, who shrugged in puzzlement. 

After a moment, the king straightened again. “Good for you,” the king said, cheerfully clapping Rodrigue on the shoulder.

\--

Meeting someone, Felix learned soon enough, did not mean simply meeting someone like normal people did everyday, but as an adult romance thing. 

The person that Felix’s father had meant turned out to be one of Glenn’s teachers. Specifically, one Professor Manuela, the one in charge of the Blue Lions that year. From what Felix gathered, Glenn liked her well enough, although he had fewer classes with her then the students who focused on magical studies.

Professor Manuela, Felix learned, was a former opera singer from Enbarr, and quite famous for it. Felix wished he could hear her sing; all the people who talked about her performances said she had been a songstress without peer. 

Felix also learned that Glenn was a bit of a problem student who regularly got into fights with a son of House Goneril, though his father would not tell him what the fights were about. When Felix had asked, Rodrigue had just pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. Originally, Rodrigue had gone to the academy to have a word with Glenn about his behaviour, and then he had met Professor Manuela.

King Lambert drew the details out of his father over dinner. Apparently, Professor Manuela was also quite pretty, though why that mattered was somewhat lost on Felix. She was also one of the senior healers in charge of the infirmary and very invested and educated in healing. 

The last part stuck out to Felix and explained a lot about his father’s behaviour. After all, there were few people as dedicated to healing in Fearghus as his father, at least none that did not belong to the church, so Felix supposed it made sense that Rodrigue was as glad about meeting the professor as he was. 

He did not know why King Lambert found the whole thing terribly amusing, or why Dimitri blushed a bit at some of the questions. He had even less of a clue as to why Glenn ended each and everyone of his letters with apologies. Heartfelt ones at that. 

Felix shrugged it off as his brother being a dramatic teenager--the king’s words. 

In the following days, and weeks, and months, his father and the professor kept writing to each other. And when Glenn’s school year came to an end, she came to visit them.

Felix did not quite understand why his father was so nervous about it and asked him repeatedly if he would mind. Although it was quite annoying Felix had no trouble telling him--repeatedly--that he did not. And that he really wanted to hear Professor Manuela sing.

His father had laughed at that.

Professor Manuela arrived together with Glenn, and Felix and his father waited for them in the courtyard of the castle. The king had made Felix promise to write him all about it. It seemed like a silly thing to ask, but since it was the king, Felix could hardly refuse. Dimitri, completely red-faced, had offered to talk his father out of it, but Felix had waved him off.

Professor Manuela dismounted smoothly from her horse and stepped towards them. And Felix agreed that his father was right; she was very pretty, though she wore clothes that were very different from the ones the ladies at court wore.

When her gaze met Felix’s, she smiled hesitantly, and Felix smiled back.

The Professor relaxed and confidently crossed the distance between them.

“Manuela.” Felix’s father greeted her with a smile on his lips as he bowed over her hand to kiss the back of it. He lingered longer than Felix was taught to do.

Behind her, Glenn grimaced, giving Felix an apologetic look. Felix rolled his eyes at him, which gained him a betrayed look instead.

His father straightened and turned to face Glenn. “Welcome home, son.”

Glenn nodded in return, looking terribly unenthusiastic, but smiling just a bit all the same.

“Yeah, good to be home. I brought…your friend.”

He stressed the last word strangely, earning him an elbow to the ribs from the Professor and an exasperated look from their father. “Yes,” Rodrigue retorted, “I can see that.”

Then he stepped back, and pulled Professor Manuela over to his side. She hesitantly linked her arm with his. They looked comfortable like that, although the professor seemed a bit flustered as his father led her to Felix. 

“Felix,” Rodrigue looked him straight into the eye, “I want you to meet Manuela. She will be staying with us for a while. I hope.” His gaze flickered to the side at the end and he gave the professor a soft smile, which she returned with a light blush on her cheeks.

Felix blinked, looking at his father in puzzlement, but then shrugged and went along with the unnecessary introduction all the same. “Nice to meet you, Professor.”

Glenn snickered and the professor tensed slightly, though she relaxed again after a moment and leaned forward slightly, giving Felix a kind smile. Felix liked it, as it was very genuine, so he smiled back even before she spoke.

“I would quite like it if you called me Manuela, Felix.” 

Felix blinked in surprise, just a bit taken aback; he wasn’t supposed to just talk to people without their title after all. Unsure, he chanced a glance at his father, who inclined his head with a smile. 

So Felix gave the professor a nod. “Alright.”

At his words Manuela’s smile got even warmer.

\--

Manuela, and she really only wanted him to call her Manuela, no Miss or Lady either, easily settled into life at Castle Fraldarius.

From what Felix could see, the servants liked their guest just fine, and she spent a lot of time with his father, who seemed to be in an excellent mood. But she also spent time with Felix. 

She told him stories about her time as a singer and sang him some of her favourite songs. 

Felix only realized what was really going on when he came down for breakfast one morning and caught his father kissing Manuela. And it was the kissing kissing, not the polite hand kissing. 

When they spotted him they stopped kissing, but did not step apart. Felix forced out a good morning and acted like it was nothing new to him; he probably only succeeded because both his father and Manuela were preoccupied. On the inside, he was reeling. 

Suddenly, everything--especially Glenn’s brattiness, as his father had called it--made sense. Felix had no idea how he made it through the meal, but he managed. As soon as it was close to polite, he excused himself and went to his room to scream into his pillow.

The next time he left his room, he looked at the world with new eyes. 

His father and Manuela weren’t just friends, they were lovers. Like in the stories. Like a man and wife were supposed to be. With hand holding and kissing that they thankfully kept mostly private.

Felix did not know what they were doing when they were alone in a room, and he did not want to know either. One time, he had seen Glenn open a door and slam it closed with a look of horror on his face. Felix preferred to knock. 

But there was also this: Manuela still took the time to show Felix some sword tricks, she still sang her songs while she worked, the servants still liked her, his father was still happy, Glenn was still suffering.

If asked, Felix would admit that he found great amusement in the times Glenn’s face showed all kinds of funny reactions. He had rarely seen his brother look so uncool. He also realized that sometimes his father and Manuela did it on purpose, just to make Glenn squawk. 

Felix was still just a bit surprised when his father brought Manuela along when they visited Fhirdiad. Manuela was nothing like the ladies at court, but she handled them and their scrutiny like they were a number of very ill behaved puppies. She carried her head high and whenever she faltered, Felix’s father was there to support her, not that she needed it often.

The court was tittering and in an uproar. The king seemed to be having the time of his life. Once, Felix overheard him asking the stuck up guard captain if he wanted to make a bet.

His father did not dance, so from the moment Felix saw them dancing in the ballroom at a formal event, he knew what would come next. 

The wedding was in the middle of summer. They made Felix carry the ring. 

At the wedding party Manuela sang a song for Rodrigue, looking into his eyes the whole time. To Felix’s and Glenn’s mortification, their father started to sing along. It turned into a duet.

The king beamed and clapped, and the rest of the wedding party followed.

The newlywed couple was lost in each other’s gaze.

Someone put a slice of cake in front of Felix. He shoved it to his brother, who descended on it with the desperation of a man who needed something else to focus on. 

Felix didn’t understand his problem. 

Maybe it was a bit gross how she and father stuck together and held hands, and chuckled together and touched all the time, and maybe Manuela was a bit dramatic and liked to tease a lot, but so did the king, and Glenn liked him just fine. 

Felix thought that Manuela was great. She was funny and smart and pretty and she liked humming and singing a lot. Felix adored it. Moreover, Manuela could use  _ swords _ . She had promised to show Felix how to use a sword and magic. At the same time! 

Why wouldn’t he like her?

  1. **Flayn**



Felix was not quite eight when Glenn brought home the strangest woman he had ever met. She was short and bubbly, had green hair and was dressed in wet clothes and wrapped up in Glenn’s cloak. She also healed Felix’s scraped knee that he had gotten when he had fallen, rushing to welcome his brother, with a tiny flick of her finger. 

He stared at it, amazed, because his father was a great healer but it would have taken him more than that. 

“Thank you,” he told her, and she ruffled his hair before she rose from her crouch.

“Really, Fe,” Glenn shook his head. “She just got here and she already had to help you.”

Felix flushed in embarrassment, and his eyes burned. Behind him, he could hear the guards greeting his father. That meant he had probably seen Felix fall too. He chanced a peek through his hair, but found that his father was smiling a bit wryly as he approached them. 

“Are you alright, Felix?” his father asked, eyes flickering over their group and lingering on the knee of Felix’s bloody pants.

Felix blushed, because yes, his father had seen, and nodded.

“Yes, Glenn’s friend healed me.” 

“She’s not my friend,” Glenn cut in, then faltered, as he realized how rude he sounded. “We, Uh. Just met…at the river.” He glanced at the woman, but she did not seem offended. “I fished her out.”

The woman seemed a bit sheepish, and tucked some of her wet hair behind her ear. “Catching a fish with bare hands is much more difficult than books make it out to be,” she said somewhat primly.

His father’s gaze flickered over her again and lingered on the puddle forming under her. “ I am sure some dry clothes can be found for you. Faerghus is not a place where one should run around in wet clothes.” He smiled. “Thank you for healing my son. As Duke Fraldarius I welcome you to the castle, miss…”

He trailed off waiting for her name.

The woman smiled; it was a pretty smile, Felix thought, very nice and kind. And warm like a hug. 

“My name is Cethleann,” she said, Felix blinked at the familiar name; he saw his father and brother exchange a glance from the corner of his eye. 

“Like the saint?” he asked curiously. He had never actually met someone who was named like a saint before!

Cethleann nodded. “Yes! That’s me.”

Felix frowned slightly. Something about that statement wasn’t right.

\--

Only, as it turned out, it was exactly right.

The girl that Glenn had fished out of the river was  _ the  _ Lady Cethleann; she even had the crest. She said she had been asleep for a long time, and then, when she had woken up, she had been alone. So she had decided to explore, but while she had used her magic to heal some people, food was a bit harder to come by, so she had decided to fish…

Which was how she met Glenn.

Felix thought that the Lady Cethleann was a bit strange, but still nice. His father seemed unsure what to make of her, but he could hardly throw her out. She was a saint after all.

Instead, the duke had offered to contact the church on her behalf, stating that he was sure Lady Rhea, the current archbishop, would welcome her, yet Lady Cethleann had refused. Her words had been uncharacteristically firm and serious when she had told his father that she had no interest in being put on a pedestal. She wanted to learn of the world today and put her skills as a healer to good use.

Felix knew that his father had been unsure what to do. Felix had caught him drilling himself in the lance forms and pacing in his office. Maybe it was strange to have a saint all but wash up in the river, but Felix thought it was amazing! It sounded like one of the stories of Loog and Kyphon and all the other heroes!

And maybe his father thought so too in the end, because he allowed Lady Cethleann to stay. He offered her a place in his household and Felix had caught the two of them--and Glenn, who had looked like his head was smoking--talk about faith magic a couple of times. Felix wasn’t very good at it, even if his father said he was doing fine, and Lady Cethleann had agreed with him, telling him that faith magic wasn’t so much about skill and talent, but about faith.

Which, Felix reasoned, made sense. Kind of. 

Lady Cethleann stayed, and she had started going into town and chatting with the merchants and helping people by healing them. Glenn had gone with her, and when Felix had asked him why, Glenn had said that he would protect her. Which was stupid. Glenn was thirteen and short and not even a knight yet. 

Since Lady Cethleann did not want the church to know who she was, she could hardly use her own name. 

Eventually, she settled on using the name Flayn, and she forbade Felix from calling her Lady Flayn, saying that friends did not use titles when it wasn’t necessary. Which made since, it wasn’t like he called Dimitri His Highness or something stupid (even if the others did).

\--

His father might not have told the church about Cethleann, but he did tell the king. Felix thought that was great! Especially because that meant that the king came to visit them to meet her, and he brought Dimitri along. Most of the time they only got to play in Fhirdiad, but in Fraldarius, they could have so many more adventures without the royal guard following their every move.

Consequently, by the time the king and his party actually arrived in Fraldarius, Felix was all but bouncing in excitement. 

The welcome was over quickly and they moved on towards the family room. Only then did his father move on to introducing Cethleann, or rather, Flayn. “Your majesty, this is Lady Flayn. I wrote to you about her arrival here. She is a tremendously skilled healer.”

The king inclined his head and studied Flayn intently. She bowed her head with a smile. Felix didn’t pay too much attention to them, especially since he had Dimitri’s attention. Dimitri beamed at him and told him all about the journey; apparently, there had been a bandit attack! Felix only turned back towards the adults when Flayn moved.

“Thank you for your understanding, your majesty.” Flann’s courtesy was more polished and elegant than any of the court lady’s, even if there was something very old fashioned about the way she swept her skirt.

“No, no.” The king insisted playfully, and quickly waved her out of her courtesy, “If we are to be friends you must call me Lambi.”

His eyes were twinkling with amusement, and Felix could not help but grimace. The king always preferred for people to be less formal with him, especially if it wasn’t a formal and public occasion. Felix used to call him uncle, and he still sometimes slipped up, but he wasn’t a baby anymore, so he couldn’t just do that.

Flayn studied Lambert for a long moment, then she nodded solemnly. “Alright.” she said, “Lambi it is.”

The King blinked, then he grinned boyishly before laughing loudly, and for the first time, Felix thought that King Lambert and Dimitri actually looked alike. His father groaned and rubbed his temples like he had a headache, while Glenn looked like Flayn had slapped him with a fish (again). 

\--

As the years passed, Felix all but forgot that Flayn was actually a saint, and by the time he was ten, he had trouble remembering a time when she wasn’t around. Flayn’s arrival had changed Fraldarius and filled it with more laughter and joy than before. It was due in part to her inquisitive nature and her unfamiliarity to the modern times. She spoke strangely sometimes and used words that Felix had never heard before, but she could also tell the greatest stories. Most adults did not add even half as many sound effects, but Flayn was terribly enthusiastic about them. She could be childish and playful at one time, and hold the wisdom of an old lady in the next.

When she heard about the opera or the theater plays performed in the nearby town, she was fascinated by them and attended regularly, and Felix and his father accompanied her. 

She made his father laugh and once convinced him to sing for her. 

His tenth year was also the year his father and Flayn decided to get married. Felix had not expected it, but Glenn looked unsurprised. 

\--

In Faerghus, rumors about Duke Fraldarius, arguably the second most powerful man in the kingdom, marrying a common wandering healer were everywhere. The wedding was a small affair, but the king was in attendance all the same. 

Felix wasn’t sure how he felt about the rumors, and that would not change in the years to come, but he was well aware of the fact that it was preferable to stories of his father marrying a thousand years old Saint that the duke’s eldest son had saved from drowning in a river after she had fallen into it while trying to catch some fish.

Still, he had no trouble calling Flayn his mother.

\--

A year after the wedding, Felix became an older brother. It was an adjustment, more so, because a year and a half after that, he became a brother again, and then -

By the age fourteen Felix had two younger brothers. He was still a crybaby, but mostly due to sleep deprivation and frustration. Felix had never been supposed to be the oldest, but that’s what Duscur made him. 

\--

The twins were born a month after the tragedy, and they would be his last siblings for a while. Despite the advanced stage of her pregnancy Flayn insisted on traveling to Fhidiad with them. Felix did not pay attention to the conversation between his parents or the screaming toddlers, he was at the same time numb and heartbroken. 

Glenn was dead. Dimitri was alive. (Thank Sothis. Curse her too.)

Dimitri was almost an empty shell. His eyes were lifeless and for all that he screamed in the night (louder than the babies, but so much more heartbreaking), he did not cry. At night, he clung to Felix with bruising strength. During the day, he kept everyone at arm length and refused to look them in the eye.

It wasn’t until after the birth of Felix’s younger siblings that Dimitri finally cracked. Dimitri had been there when Felix’s mother went into labour. They had been sitting together in the tea room when Flayn suddenly let out a gasp and froze. Before that she had been pacing back and forth, and rubbing her back. 

Felix had expected it. He had been there the last two times she went into labour, but Dimitri wasn’t, and he didn’t deal well with it. Especially not with the actual labour and Flayn’s screams of pain.

The prince was a wreck, and Felix was frankly too worried about him to worry much about Flayn. His father managed both. 

They were led into the birthing chamber soon after. Felix dragged Dimitri along, despite the prince insisting that it was improper for a non-family member to be there. And maybe he was right, but Felix had a feeling that making sure that Dimitri seeing Flayn alive and well was more important. 

And he was right. Dimitri all but sagged with relief the moment Flayn beamed at them from the bed, looking exhausted but terribly happy. With a baby in each arm. Oh.

\--

It was the next day that Dimitri finally cried. They had visited Flayn again. She was still in bed, recovering from the birth. Felix wasn’t quite sure how they ended up talking about the king and Lady Patrcia--who was apparently supposed to be Queen Patricia, but-

Dimitri broke down and finally, finally started crying in deep heaving sobs.

Flayn wrapped him in her arms and pulled him close. And the words started spilling from Dimitri’s lips: revenge, blood and death. Of his duty and the demands of the dead, all of it tinged with a viciousness that scared Felix just a bit. Yet, when Flayn opened her other arm for him, he went.

And she told them a tale of heartbreak and revenge. Of deaths beyond counting. She told them of the Red Canyon. 

\--

Felix was never quite sure what to make of the boy from Duscur that Dimitri brought back with him. He did not like him, but he didn’t dislike him either. However, he was another set of hands, and with four adventurous brats around, that was very much appreciated. 

\--

The Western Rebellion was a scene straight out of a nightmare, but as he watched Dimitri stand laughing among the corpses, Felix heard his mother’s words ring in his mind:  _ Grief and trauma can destroy you, and no one but you can put yourself back together again. But nothing is more important than the people who care for you and love you, because the people who support you make you want to do so. _

Yet, for the first time in his life, when he reached for Dimitri, he did so hesitantly, shakily, but he reached out all the same. 

Dimitri reached back slowly, unsurely, with blood on his face and his hands. Felix only realized that Dimitri was shaking when his fingers closed around Dimitri’s own. Taking a deep breath and bracing himself, Felix ignored the tacky feel of the blood and squeezed Dimitri’s hand. Dimitri squeezed back. 

\--

Being in the academy was strange. There were a lot less little children around than Felix had gotten used to over the last couple of years, and a lot more teenagers. Felix was pretty sure that Dedue had nearly laughed out loud when Felix had tried to wipe Ashe’s face with a napkin when the other had spilled some of his food.

Maybe, he missed his siblings just a bit. (They were so cute. All chubby cheeked and with big adoring eyes and-)

\--

Felix did not think anything would change with his family's visit to the monastery. Nothing had changed when his father had come by during the Miklan mess, except that the old man had filled Felix in on the shenanigans of his siblings. Well, him and Dimitri and Dedue. 

The next time his father - this time with both his mother and siblings - came to the monastery, their family grew again. In a strange direction.

\--

Their visit took place during the Ethereal Moon, just in time to witness both Felix’s marvelous and totally voluntary performance at the White Heron cup and Dimitri’s birthday. Felix was embarrassed, Felix was glad. 

Dimitri wasn’t doing well, and a distraction would probably do him some good. And Felix didn’t think his dancing would do more than provide a moment of hilarity. 

Together with Dedue, he dragged the prince down to the entrance of the monastery when it was time for his family to arrive. Dimitri lit up the moment he recognized the carriage. 

They walked down the stairs together, and by the time they reached the carriage, Felix’s siblings were already climbing out. It was astounding to see how big they had gotten in the moons he had been gone. 

Flayn left the carriage last, Felix’s sister who seemed quite sleepy still in her arms. Felix would have teased her, but he had both hands full with adventurous siblings who were tugging at his uniform and trying to talk his ears off. 

They must have been quite a sight.

“I-” Someone spoke up from behind them as one Felix, his father, his siblings, and Dimitri turned. “Excuse me.” 

It was Seteth, and Felix had never seen the Archbishop’s advisor so rattled before.

His mother turned as well after she set down her youngest daughter. When her eyes landed on Seteth, they went wide in surprise. “Father,” she breathed.

(And Felix had to reassemble his world view.)

\--

He had thought that it would be strange to have a mother who looked--but wasn’t--really young. It had nothing on getting a grandfather who looked younger than his father. And tragically, Seteth was very keen on stepping in as a grandfather, even for the child he had no blood relation too. 

(Although he seemed unsure about his son in law…)

\--

After the attack and after the fall of the monastery, they retreated to Faerghus. Seteth went with them, and with him came the knights of Seiros.

Dimitri was crowned king and they went to war. 

And then, five years later, the Professor miraculously returned. 

  1. **Mercedes**



When his father informed him that he considered remarrying, Felix pursed his lips and said nothing. Maybe he would have before, but he and his father hardly talked these days. The few sentences Rodrigue needed to tell Felix of his plans were the longest conversation they had had in weeks, if not moons.

The old man looked like he wanted to say more, but Felix turned his face away, after giving him a perfunctory nod. It wasn’t like Felix had any say in the duke’s decision to remarry.

His father had never talked about remarriage before, and if Felix was honest the thought of that happening had never crossed his mind. Now that it was put in front of him, however, he had no trouble coming up with new reasons. The kingdom was hardly stable, so a political match to some other political faction leaders' daughter, or sister. Maybe a widow even; there were a number of them around after Duscur. 

He squashed the gratitude that his father had not offered him up for the match instead, even as another part of him - the one that felt like he could never match up to Glenn - reminded him that his father probably wanted a better heir, one who did not scorn the crown prince.

Part of the reasons Rodrigue had apparently agreed to marry the girl--and she was a girl, Glenn’s age really--was politics. Apparently, the girl's father had made some political and social connections through the marriage of his children, and involved himself in the power struggle at court. Even Felix knew that the court around Dimitri was unstable at the best of times, and had been since the tragedy last year. The regent wasn’t helping, and it made sense that his father would like to put a stop to another faction forming inside the royal court, in any way he could. The only way he could do it in this situation, however, was to step in himself. 

Felix only met the new bride once before the wedding. He did, however, learn more about her before that. She was actually the stepdaughter of a social climbing merchant. A crest-bearing one, though factors like that had never mattered to Felix’s father.

She surprised him.

It was probably fair to say that whatever image Felix had had of her before was not a favourable one. But then again, being the adopted daughter of a social climber whose presence threatened what was left of the stability in the kingdom was not a great recommendation. Nor was hearing that the other people who had been considered as suitors for her were the odious Lord Kleinman or the philandering grand duke.

Meeting her, however, quickly changed his mind.

Mercedes von Martritz was a kind young woman, and when they first met, neither of them knew that they would soon be family.

\--

Felix had accompanied his father to the capital on a visit. He knew that part of the reason for the trip was so that Rodrigue could get to meet his possible bride, but Felix preferred not to think about it. He had come along to visit Dimitri.

Since Duscur, his best friend had changed. Not that that was strange; Felix himself had been changed by the event as well, and he hadn’t even been there, but Felix worried. Mainly because Dimitri tried to pretend that nothing had changed and that he was still the same he had been before.

Felix was fairly sure that everyone who knew Dimitri at least a bit would be able to tell. The problem, he had been forced to realize, was that most people didn’t know Dimitri. And even those that did--and that group included Felix’s own father--were willing to go along with the charade. 

Felix was willing to allow it to a point, but the problem was that Dimitri himself ignored the problem as well. It was one thing for him to keep up a public facade, but another to simply pretend nothing was wrong all the time. 

Felix had thought that Dimitri trusted him, learning that he didn’t hurt. It was foolish, it was unfair, and Felix knew that he had no right to anything from Dimitri, but-

But even knowing this, understanding this, did not change that sometimes Felix just felt hurt. Hurt and unwanted and very, very small. And maybe angry, especially when the boy who was supposed to be his best friend acted like Felix was being ridiculous in his worry and kept him at arm length at one time, preferring the company of the boy from Duscur, and then clinging to him at other times. Acting like he could not bear to let Felix leave his sight.

The day Felix met his future stepmother for the first time had been a day where Dimitri had been swaying rapidly back and forth between both extremes. He had clung to Felix with desperation, and burst into his room in the middle of the night, and then he had ignored Felix the next morning, saying that he was busy. And oh, how busy he had been! He had spent hours in the garden with the Duscur boy, doing nothing but reading. Felix wouldn’t have minded joining them. He wasn’t sure if he liked the boy from Duscur, but Felix was willing to give him a chance, for Dimitri’s sake. 

When he had first spotted them, he had tried to convince himself that Dimitri just thought he would not want to meet the other boy, so he thought that…if Dimitri saw him, he would call him over, and the three of them could read together. It hadn’t happened. 

Instead, he had walked past the garden, met Dimitri’s gaze and saw the guilty flicker in them before he acted like he had not seen Felix. Felix had closed his eyes (and ignored the burn behind his eyelids) and walked away. Out of the garden, out of the castle, and into the city. 

Felix had not cried. 

But he had somehow gotten sand in his eye and wandered into one of the smaller churches in the city. The one where a lot of the orphans stayed. He had helped Glenn bring supplies there sometimes and he knew his father still sent some every other moon. 

Usually, it was a great place to go when he wanted to distract himself; there was always someone willing to play and many boys liked learning some basic swordsmanship that could get them a leg up when they applied as guards, but on that day, his arrival went unnoticed. Only the old nun who oversaw the place gave him a small smile before waving him inside.

Felix found all the kids quickly. They were gathered together around a pretty young woman with long brown hair who was reading to them. Felix paused in the doorway to listen to her read the story of Loog and Kryphon, unbothered by the interruptions from the younger children. Something twisted in his chest, but he found himself settling down in one of the pews in the back all the same. The woman had a soft voice that carried through the room all the same. She put emotion and enthusiasm into her reading, and the children were spellbound. Felix wasn’t. At least not as much as the kids. 

Eventually, the reading was over and the kids scattered. For a short moment, Felix considered drawing attention to himself. He had come to the church to get distracted after all, but after hearing the story of the epic friendship of Loog and Kryphon, he just felt drained. So he leaned back in his seat, let his head fall back against the wall, and listened to the children stream from the main building into the yard.

After a moment, he closed his eyes, once more having to fight against the burn of tears. 

He started when someone sat down next to him.

It was the young woman who had been reading earlier and she was watching him with a calm expression. “Are you alright?”

Felix wanted to bristle. Did he look like some kind of weakling who had come to cry in the church?, but the woman’s aura was so calm and unoffensive, that Felix couldn’t quite help but feel like he would be the one in the wrong if he snapped at her.

Instead, he simply nodded. “Yes.”

“Mhm,” The woman studied him and eventually nodded. She did not pry, but she did not leave either. 

They sat in silence.

“Did you like the story?” she asked him after a moment, pushing back her long hair. “It is a favourite with many of the children and you were listening quite intently.”

Felix pressed his lips together and blinked rapidly. He wasn’t a crybaby anymore. He wasn’t. 

“It’s stupid,” he snapped. “Just a tale of chivalry and honor-”

He bit his lip hard enough to taste blood. He was the heir of House Fraldarius, and he could not go around ranting like that to a stranger, even if he wanted to shout it from the rooftops. 

If the woman was perturbed by his outburst, she did not show it. Instead she calmly folded her hands in her lap. “You think so?” she asked. “Don’t you think it is a story of friendship and doing everything in your power to protect the people you love and those you are responsible for?”

Felix stared at her. 

Mostly people focused on the fact that Kryphon was Loog’s sworn knight. They were friends, that was always mentioned, but the focus was always, always that he was the most loyal, the best of all knights. (And Felix had come to hate that.)

“I do not think it is wrong to be willing to die for something bigger than yourself.” The woman continued. Felix stiffened, but she spoke again before he could retort. “But I don’t think anyone else can decide if something should be worth dying for for you personally.”

Her eyes were fixed at the altar at the front of the church. “There are many kinds of sacrifice. Death is just the last and most final one. One that should not be made or asked for without great thought.”

Felix wanted to argue, but-

But she looked sad, and he couldn’t disagree, not really. Felix didn’t want to die, but he thought he just might be willing to do so… as the very last resort.

“It’s not something to strive for.” His voice was a bit rough, but at least he did not sound like he had been crying.

“No,” she agreed, “it is not.”

They sat in silence again. Eventually, Felix could not help but break it. “Are you a nun here?”

She wasn’t dressed like one, but she certainly acted a bit like it. To Felix's surprise, the woman’s smile faltered a bit. 

“No.” Her voice was a bit subdued. “I was raised in a church for a while…they gave me and my mother shelter.” 

Felix noted that she was grasping her own hands quite tightly, and he felt a bit uncomfortable that he had touched on such an uncomfortable topic.

The woman did not stop talking though.

“I had thought about joining the church myself when I was older, and passing on the case given to me to others…To help people.”

Then she shook her head, and turned to Felix with a smile.

“Sometimes life does not go the way you might want it, but I believe that the goddess has a plan for me.”

Felix nodded awkwardly. He felt a bit bad for her, but did not want to ask more questions. Given his apparent talent he would likely only make things worse.

He looked out of the window again, and blinked in surprise. It was later than he he had expected. If he did not hurry, he would be missing tea, and his father would probably be upset with him; Rodrigue had specifically asked him to be in their rooms for tea. Something about having a talk.

Taking another glance at the woman, Felix stood up. She looked at him with a gentle smile which he awkwardly returned.

“Uh…I need to go now. My father expects me.” 

She nodded, still smiling. “Alright, Thank you for the talk.”

Felix nodded. “Yes, uhm. Thank you too.”

At his words her smile gained an amused tinge, but it wasn’t mocking, so Felix politely bid his goodbye. 

As he walked towards the door, the nun walked past him, Felix nodded at her but did not look back. He could hear her address the woman.

“Will you stay for the meal, dear?”

“No, I am meeting my fiance today.”

The nun sighed. Felix walked on, not wanting to hear more about the private conversation, but he guessed marriage would explain why she would not join the church.

The women continued talking behind them, but Felix had already left the church.

\--

His father had wanted to talk about the upcoming marriage again. Felix was a bit uncomfortable that it was being treated as a done deal, despite the fact that Rodrigue hadn’t even met the woman yet. What if she was really horrible? Felix would have to deal with her as well. 

It became clear that evening after the business part was done that that was probably not something he needed to worry about.

The woman his father was going to marry was called Mercedes von Matritz, and she was the woman from the church. Thankfully, she looked just as surprised when she saw him as Felix did.

\--

Weddings weren’t supposed to be sad events, but Felix couldn’t help but frown when he attended his own father’s. He figured most people would think it was because he was worried about being displaced as the heir. That wasn’t the case. 

He was more sad for his father’s wife.

Dimitri, however, wasn’t most people. The prince eventually sidled up to where Felix was standing at the side of the hall while the party was in full swing. He had been hiding here since his own dance with the bride.

“Felix?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”

Felix turned to look at him, and for a short moment he considered treating Dimitri like Dimitri was treating him, and wave him off without an explanation. He decided against it.

“Mercedes wants to be a nun.”

Dimitri blinked at him. Felix pretended that what he had just said was perfectly sensible and did not need further explanation. Dimitri stayed with him for the rest of the evening. 

\--

Frankly, in the days after the wedding, Mercedes probably spent more time with him than she did with his father. He got to know her pretty well, and she learned most of his worries, which should feel stranger than it did. His father was busy with politics and given that many people had arrived in the capital for his wedding, it was the best time to do his politicking.

Ironically, his father thanked him for spending time with Mercedes, not only because he thought it was kind of Felix, but also because it helped strengthen the position of their house. 

Felix had never had a mother before, but he was pretty sure Mercedes was filling in the role, despite the lack of age difference between them. Or maybe she was just a really good listener and Felix had been starved for someone to listen to him. 

Mercedes listened to his worries about Dimitri and told him that maybe he should ask his friend straight out. Felix had not given any names, but he had a feeling that Mercedes understood anyway. He tried to follow her advice, but Dimitri built the wall between them higher and higher, and Felix was starting to feel like maybe he was unwanted and unneeded. 

So when his father asked him whether he wanted to return with him and his wife or stay in the capital, he chose to go home, even if he knew he was in for an awkward time. 

\--

The servants in the castle watched Mercedes with suspicion. Felix knew that many of them either still remembered his mother or had a general idea why their duke married her. It was misdirected, but Felix could hardly tell them to blame her father instead. And telling them that Mercedes had not actually wanted to marry his father would likely make the whole thing worse.

Still, it was relieving to see her win them over one by one. Mercedes, much like his father, was good with people. She was also good at being the duchess. 

Still, despite mastering all the duties expected of her as the duchess, she seemed unfulfilled, and Felix thought he had an idea why. Rodrigue noticed her unhappiness as well. 

Despite knowing that he was closer to Mercedes--in fact he had come to consider her a friend who he would have loved in the family if she married his brother instead (don’t tell Ingrid)--it was strange to have your father ask you if you had any idea what could make his wife happy.

Rodrigue should be glad that Felix wasn’t Sylvain. And gladder still that Felix actually had an idea. Felix told his father about Mercedes' original plan to help people. To his credit, the old man looked sad on her behalf, then thoughtful.

The next day his father and Mercedes had a long conversation, in the aftermath Felix was informed that Mercedes would be overseeing part of the program he was enacting that focused on keeping their subjects in good health and dealing with the orphans left by both Duscur and the Sreng wars.

Felix tried very hard not to be pleased when he saw the delight and happiness in Mercedes’s eyes when she went to work. He tried even harder not to see the way his father and Mercedes actually seemed to grow closer through their work as well. That was just awkward.

\--

It was strange, but despite the tension that lingered between him and his old man, Castle Fraldarius started to feel like home again.

\--

It was in the aftermath of the rebellion that Felix first saw another side of Mercedes. Saw a spine of steel in her that took him aback. His father chided him for his words about the boar prince, but it was Mercedes who followed him later that evening and actually listened to what she had to say. Then she told him that she had two things to say to him.

First, that she was sorry he had to see something like that. That it must have been terrifying and traumatizing. 

He scoffed at her and told her that the boar-

The second was a slap to the face. One moment she was looking at him calmly, and the next there was a stinging pain in his cheek. Mercedes looked angry and sad, both with herself and with him, when she grasped his shoulders. “I’m sorry,” she said, and she sounded it too. “I shouldn’t have slapped you, but no matter how someone acts, they are human. To equate them to animals is dehumanizing and wrong. I will not have you use such words.”

Felix stared at her. His eyes burned like they hadn’t in years. His cheek stung. 

Felix broke. “But he lies and lies and lies! Acting like nothing is happening won’t change anything! He is just going to get worse. He fights like a rabbit animal! He is going to get himself killed.” The words sprung from his lips, torn between rage and fear and despair.

Mercedes drew him in a hug. 

“Felix,” she asked him. “Don’t you think that maybe Dimitri is afraid too?”

\--

After the western rebellion, things changed again. Felix was a bit embarrassed by it, but he actually started to think of Mercedes as a mother figure rather than an older friend who was strangely enough married to his father. 

\--

Felix shouldn’t have visited Mercedes in the Academy of Royal Sorcery. If he hadn't, he could have spared himself some awkward conversations.

He found Mercedes quickly enough, but she wasn’t alone. Felix considered leaving again, but her face lit up when she spotted him and she waved him over, smiling at him and the girl next to her.

“Oh, Annie, I want you to meet my son, Felix,” Mercedes said, a serene smile on her face. 

Annie, a short girl who was all but bouncing on her feet, looked at him with wide eyes. “Your son? Ohhh…Uh. Mercie, I thought your cute little son would be…little and cute?” Then she paused. “How old are you exactly?”

She slapped her hand in front of her mouth as soon as she finished talking, eyes wide in embarrassment. Mercedes only giggled. “Oh, but he is very cute. Like a grumpy cat!”

Annie looked at him curiously, more thoughtful than disbelieving. 

Felix was suffering.

\--

Annie turned out to be actually called Annette and she was--paradoxically--Ser Gustave’s daughter. Except for the hair there was no resemblance. Annette was cool. Ser Gustave was her opposite in every way. 

She also became Mercedes’ good friend, and after a bit of awkwardness in the beginning, she decided that she would treat him like a nephew. Or a grumpy cat. 

Felix was suffering.

\--

Felix was fairly certain that he was the only student in the history of the Officers Academy that attended classes together with his mother. Then again, most students probably did not have a mother who was only five years older than them. At least, he really hoped so.

The first time he addressed her as mother--in an ironic manner, though she found it very amusing and called him her sweet little son --the fencing instructor Jeritza gave him the weirdest look ever. And given that the man wore a mask, that was saying something.

Mercedes also had him be on his best behaviour around the bo-...around Dimitri. He hated how she made sense in her explanations, thought it did not stop Felix from telling the boar what he thought of him. 

Sometimes the boar even looked glad for it. He was a weirdo. 

In the end it wasn’t Mercedes who was right, but Felix. The boar went rabid and got himself killed. 

The kingdom was at war. 

\--

Two years into the war, Mercedes gave birth to a daughter. Her pregnancy had answered a question about her and his father’s marriage that Felix had never wanted an answer to, but he wasn’t opposed to being an older brother. Even if it was strange to see Mercedes get rounder and rounder with every return home. 

Felix would not say that she and his father were in love, but they cared for each other and trusted one another. 

Felix had the--maybe--ill fortune of being in Fraldarius when the labour started. In fact, he was just saying goodbye to Mercedes when her water broke and she had a sudden claw-like grip on his arm.

He ended up staying, and only got to vacate the room when his father returned. Felix could not bring himself to leave after that. He was going to be an older brother. An older brother for a child which--theoretically--was at the right age to be his kid.

Mercedes screamed inside the room. And Felix suffered.

\--

“What would you like to name her, Mercedes?” his father asked her, sitting at her bedside and looking at them with soft eyes. It made Felix want to leave the room, but given that Mercedes had just asked him to come back inside, that would be very rude.

Felix had no trouble being rude to his father, but Mercedes was his mother-sister-friend-person, and she did not approve of rudeness. Given the special occasion, he would control himself. 

“Emilia…” Mercedes eventually decided, stroking the wrinkly cheek of the newborn. Felix’s sister already had a head of dark hair and a healthy set of lungs.

\--

Felix had not expected Mercedes to accompany them to the monastery. Emila was only three, and while it was one thing for Mercedes to accompany the army and heal as many wounded as she could--and as many as she could was a not inconsequential number--but a whole other thing to go into occupied territory on the off chance that-

Well, it was only for nostalgia's sake. 

\--

“I’m an older brother,” Felix informed the boar’s broad back as he stood guard over him in the cathedral, “And if you get Mercedes killed I will never forgive you.”

To his surprise, the boar laughed at that. “Ah Felix, as if you have ever forgiven me for Glenn.”

Felix stared at him in surprise, even if the boar couldn't see it. To Felix, Glenn’s death had never been something Dimitri needed to be forgiven for.

\--

His father died on the Gronder fields despite the boar prince’s pleas and best attempts at healing him. Or so they told him. Felix hadn’t been with them, he had been busy making sure that Petra did not remove his head from his body. 

After informing him of what happened, Sylvain told him that it seemed like Dimitri was coming back to himself, but Felix only gave him a look. He had other people to worry about.

He found Mercedes with Annette. She was crying, and when she folded him in a hug, Felix might have started crying as well. If he did, neither Annette or Mercedes would tell. 

\--

Mercedes lost her brother, but she had told Felix and his father about him years ago. She said she had prepared himself. She cried all the same. 

\--

Felix wasn’t sure what Mercedes wanted to do now that the war was over. She was free now; she could join the church if she wanted, and Felix would not fight her if she wanted to take his sister along. Emilia might be his heir, but it’s not like he would not see her if Mercedes took her along. He considered making the arrangements for her and surprising her, but in the end he decided that whatever she wanted to do, she could decide and do herself.

And so he asked her. 

To her surprise she laughed and said that she would like to return home. To Fraldarius or Fhirdiad, wherever life would lead them. To be with her family. 

Felix could not disagree, because, in the end, they were family. 

(Eventually, Mercedes would remarry. This time for love, and their family would grow again. Although her taste in partners was debatable.)

  1. **Byleth**



The first thing Felix noticed about the woman who came to represent the mercenaries was the sword (it was a good one), and the second was the tits.

Felix didn’t know it then, but his father’s thoughts went the opposite way. Much to his horror, he would learn about it soon, however.

The woman introduced herself as Byleth. Despite the getup--that certainly could not be practical--she comported herself professionally and knew her stuff. 

His old man had insisted that Felix witness the negotiations as a learning experience, but there wasn’t much of a negotiation, as the contact the mercenary had prepared was pretty much what his father had had in mind to begin with.

A week later, the woman returned to bring the report. Felix nodded at her across the courtyard, taking note of the lack of injuries. If it had been appropriate, he would have asked her for a spar. She passed out of his sight, and Felix returned to his training. He never expected to see her again. 

(In retrospect he should have asked for the spar. It wasn’t like anyone else seemed to care about propriety.)

His father hired her again, which made sense given the competence of her group and the reasonable contact. Still. Felix wished that had been all, but for some reasons he had alarm bells going off in the back of his mind when his father smiled at her, and the woman’s lips twitched minisculely.

Felix wasn’t around for their next few interactions, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing. The upside, of course, was that he had not been around for their interactions. The downside that he had not been around for their interactions and consequently completely blindsided when he came across this in his father’s office:

The mercenary, completely naked, bouncing on his father’s lap, with Rodrigue’s face between her tits. At least, Felix would assume it was his father from the clothes and the location. He did not stick around long enough for the man to pull his face out of...the “pillowy heaven” (thank you, Sylvain).

Felix all but sprinted to his bedroom where he buried his face in his pillow and screamed. The next day, he decided it was a nightmare. His father did not bring the matter up either, so Felix felt relief.

Unfortunately, it would not last.

\--

After half a year of such instances happening--against the door, in the hallway, at the breakfast table (oh goddess, why?)--Felix was just about done with life. This was worse than Sylvain’s stories or that one time he had walked in on Glenn, this was…something Felix could never forgive (and he couldn’t forget either! Once, he even tried to get drunk, but it did not help.) Sometimes, when he was faced with another…event, Felix felt that this was worse than his father’s words about chivalry. 

He wanted Rodrigue to go back to being the embodiment of the chivalric ideal: honorable, just, chast. 

And if that didn’t work, Felix wanted all bandits in Fraldarius and the surrounding lands to die of a sudden stroke. That way, his father would never have to hire another mercenary again. He prayed for it every night before bed, and when the reports about bandit activity lessened--the mercenary group was efficient--he came to the horrifying resolution that at least half of his father’s meetups had nothing to do with business deals at this kind.

Before he could do something regrettable (like jump off the castle wall), Felix decided to visit the boar. Just about anything was better than this.

\--

Sometimes, Felix could not escape. Sometimes he had to have breakfast with them. Felix never wanted to see a woman wear his father’s clothes ever again.

He wished he had never been friends with Sylvain and did not know what those kinds of bites and scratches and lovebites looked like. Alas, he had known Sylvain for almost as long as he was alive. There was no escape. 

\--

At least not until the officer’s academy. Or so he thought. But even there, he could not quite escape, as that one disastrous training exercise revealed. The boar disappeared in the chaos, and when he returned, he was accompanied by not only the other house leaders, the knights of Seiros, but also Jerald the Blade Breaker and his daughter.

His daughter Byleth, of whom Felix had seen more than he had ever would have wanted to, especially give the context (urg).

Felix watched appalled as she went around the academy. He had been with Sylvain when she had first approached him, but then his childhood friend had started flirting with her and Felix just…

Had to remove himself from a potentially triggering situation. He ignored Sylvain calling for him in surprise as he marched off towards the training ground.

Byleth tracked him down there later.

“Felix.” She greeted him and drew her sword. Felix got into position as well, and so they sparred. Byleth trashed him, but that was expected. 

Just as he had expected that she would talk to him once she got her blade at his throat. Funny, given that she was the one who had informed him that predictability got you killed. 

“I’ll be your teacher this year,” Byleth said, getting straight to the point. “Rhea told me to choose a house. We can spar.”

Felix nodded miserably. Sparring was good. And Byleth was good too as long as his father wasn’t around. 

“I learned a lot from your father as well. It might interest you.”

Felix's mind went terrifyingly blank.

\--

Soon after, the boar prince called them all to the classroom to inform them that they would meet their new teacher any moment. He also told them that they had all met her that afternoon. Felix had not yet shaken off the existential dread that had been hounding him since the spar. He had blanket out the words, but one conversation did not mean much in the great scheme of things.

“She is a very able fighter,” the boar said. “I’m sure she has experiences in a broad field of studies and will be a good professor for us.”

“Professor? Ha!” Hysteria was building in Felix’s chest, his classmates watched him worriedly. But in front of Felix’s mind’s eye images flashed in and out, totally beyond his control. His father bent over the table, and the mercenary - the professor, oh Sothis - leaning down and whispering into his ear.  _ Let me teach you _ .

“What does she study?” His voice sounded shrill. “My father’s sexual powers?”

The room froze and awkward silence decided on them. Ingrid stared in wide eyed horror, the boar was blinking as if he could not believe that had come out of Felix’s mouth, Mercedes’ eyes sparkled and she had a hand in front of her mouth. Annette, Ashe and even Dedue looked wide eyed.

Sylvain looked torn between elation and horror.

“That, that woman. She is my- my father’s,” Felix could not say the word, “special naked friend.”

The tenson burst like a bubble. Annette giggled. 

“You mean she is your father’s booty call?” Sylvain threw in, a wide grin on his face. Felix wasn’t amused, instead he turned on him with wild eyes. “There were no boots involved.”

Sylvain blinked, paused. “That… Nevermind.”

And just then, Professor Byleth entered the classroom. Despite her blank expression, Felix could swear she was amused.

“Hello.” She greeted them, “Most of you don’t know me yet…”

\--

Arguably, there was only one good thing that came out of Byleth being their professor (well, maybe two, if you counted the boar still being alive, but Felix definitely didn’t, so) and that was the next letter Felix sent his father.

A letter in which he cheerfully informed the old man that the woman he had been fucking for the last two years was the daughter of Jerald the Blade Breaker.

\--

He managed to evade his father the entire time he was in attendance due to the Miklan mess, and he resolutely refused to pay any attention to the strange bruises the Professor carried. Instead, he hid away. Once with Jerald, who asked him how fond he was of his father. 

A fair question. 

\--

Felix had looked forward to the academy, especially because it was supposed to be a father (and special naked friend) free time. He had resigned himself that he would have to suffer through his traumatic flashbacks relating to his father’s sex life when Byleth became their teacher, but he never would have thought that he would be the facilitator for their next meeting.

Or maybe it was his father making use of him. Felix glared down at the letter in his hand. A letter in which his father requested assistance for dealing with a bandit problem in Fraldarius. (Felix hated bandits). Felix was fine with helping him, even if it was the old man, but he alone could not do much, which meant he would have to ask for assistance and assistance meant…the professor.

\--

Felix regretted everything the moment the fight was over and the Professor approached his father with an--at least for her--wide smile. Felix turned away, and instead focused on the reaction of his classmates, especially those of his childhood friends. 

Dimitri looked about as weirded out as Felix felt. Without the horror that came with witnessing…stuff. Ingrid looked torn between curiosity and surprise at seeing their professor flirt, while Sylvain wore an expression that was a strange mixture of jealous, incredulous and appreciative. 

Felix did not want to know what went on in his head.

The other’s mostly seemed curious; in some parts, more curious about Felix’s reaction than what was actually happening. Felix ignored them, and hoped they would leave soon.

Then Mercedes hummed, “So that is the Professor’s type. Mhm.”

And she sounded considering. Felix wanted to bleach his brain.

\--

It got worse, mainly because his father insisted on them staying the night in the castle. His argument was reasonable: Even if they did stay the night, it would not push their arrival at the monastery back by much. 

He wasn’t surprised to have the boar break into his room in the middle of the night, wild eyed and stuttering. Felix--feeling charitable now that someone understood his suffering--simply rolled over and made space for him. Just this once.

The next morning the professor looked pleased and relaxed, and his father was looking very satisfied. Felix ignored the imprint of teeth on his professor’s collarbone with an ease born from long practice. It would have worked better if the rest of his class had not kept giggling about it.

\--

The professor died. The monastery fell, and they fled home.

The boar gave his father a bare rundown on what had occurred during the attack on the monastery. It was clear that the prince’s only focus was his revenge against the emperor. He mentioned Byleth's death as part of a long list of Edelgard’s crimes and did not give his father time to absorb the statement. 

Felix, however, saw the pain on the old man’s face and the grief that followed him. Grief and pain that only deepened when Dimitri’s execution was announced. Normally he would shy away from the knowledge that his father was grieving, truly grieving, but Felix was too tired (too heartbroken) to do more than clap his father on the back and grab his sword.

\--

Maybe Felix had gotten soft over the years, but the first words he found himself saying to the Professor when they were alone were these: “My father will be glad to see you alive.”

And Byleth smiled, truly smiled, brighter then he had ever seen on her face before.

Felix pretended that the knowledge that the old man’s care was returned was not soothing.

\--

Ailell was hell on multiple fronts.

First, there had been empire spies among their numbers. That wasn’t really a surprise. 

Second, the place was far too hot to be suitable for humans, much less humans used to colder climates. How the boar did not melt in his cloak, Felix didn’t understand. 

Third, Felix really did not need to see his father sweep the Professor up in a tight hug and then dip her into a deep kiss! Really, this wasn’t some kind of romance novel! Who did that!?

Sadly, his father came to the monastery with them, and this time, Felix could avoid neither him nor the professor. 

As it turned out, Felix, despite attending the monastery with Sylvain, had not been aware of all the hookup spots. Something his father and the professor seemed keen to rectify. 

\--

The battle of Gronder was a mess, and it was a divine miracle that all of the people Felix cared about made it out alive. In his father’s case Felix was pretty sure it was divine--or the professor’s--intervention that kept the blade he attempted to stop from hitting the boar from taking his life instead. 

Felix had seen the girl strike, and he had seen the speed with which the professor reacted. It was almost as if she had started to move before Fleche had begun her attack. How Blyeth had known where exactly she would strike he would never know, but somehow the professor, despite being further away than Felix, had managed to extend her sword quickly enough to alter the trajectory of the attack. But Felix would put his money on magic. That would also explain why the professor passed out and slept for multiple days afterwards, after making sure his father was still alive and giving him a kiss. 

He was maybe just a bit glad that both his old man and the boar were alive, but he would have preferred not to be the one who had to talk to the boar after the battle. 

Handholding, urg. Who did that? Felix had grown out of it ages ago. 

\--

His father had not marched on Fhirdiad with them, but he had followed behind. Felix had seen the way his eyes had lit up when Dimitri had addressed the people. How proud he looked.

Well, Felix might have been a little proud himself. 

Any goodwill that Felix had left however, had been lost the moment he returned to his room--the room he had slept in every time they were in Fhirdiad and he was not having a sleepover with the prince-- and found his father and the professor having sex in the family room.

The image in front of Felix was eerily reminiscent of the first time he had had the horror of seeing them together. Felix made a sound of disgust, drawing both of their attention to him, which just- no. 

He turned and slammed the door close behind him. If his old man and the professor want to celebrate, that was fine. Felix had resigned himself to it at this point, but in the family room! Making another sound of disgust, Felix stalked off towards his other familiar sleeping spot in Fhirdiad. 

\--

After the final battle in Enbarr, the sight of all the couples making out around him made Felix briefly consider throwing himself off the castle walls. But then he spotted the boar, sitting alone at a table and looking out into the night. He was fiddling with a dagger and looking…not sad, but not good either.

When Felix approached him, the fiddling of the prince’s hands stilled, and he looked up with a smile. 

\--

After the war, his father retired and passed his title on to Felix so he could follow his spec-… his lover back to the monastery. Felix would have been far more outraged at getting the job of watching after the boar dumped on him if that had not been his plan for the future anyway. Someone needed to keep an eye on Dimitri after all. And it was obvious no one else was up to the task. They had let him sit alone at a table in Enbarr for Sothis’ sake!

There was also the fact that with his father and the professor in the monastery and him at court, the chances of Felix stumbling over them in a compromising situation was drastically reduced. 

That was something Felix could approve off.

  1. **Dorothea**



Dorothea turned up at the gates of Castle Fraldarius six month after the outbreak of the war, followed by a gaggle of half starved children. It was pure chance that Felix was in the castle when she arrived. Given the state of the conflict, he did not want to know what fate would have awaited her--a talented magic user with a clear empire accent--otherwise.

As it was, the soldiers on guard duty called for him when she asked to speak to him. Felix came down quickly, setting aside the report he had been reading, and made his way down the stairs. 

It took her a moment to recognize her. She hardly looked like herself. Her hair was a mess and she had lost more weight that was healthy. Only when she smiled did Felix make the connection. 

He waved off the guards and made his way over to her. Maybe he should have expected the hug she swept him into, but he didn’t, so he could not hold back the surprised squawk. 

Dorothea chuckled. “It is good to see you, Felix.” From up close she looked even worse. Felix awkwardly patted her back until she released him. The children had drawn back upon his arrival. There were only a handful of them. 

“War orphans,” Dorothea informed him, noting his look, “Edi-...” she took a breath, “the emperor’s troops leave only ashes in their wake.”

Felix grunted.

Behind them people started mumbling, and Felix turned to see his father approach them and watch them with keen eyes. He stopped not far away. 

“And who is this?” His father asked him, eyes sliding over Dorothea in assessment, noting both the magic enhancing brooch and her collection of daggers, though his face did not give away what he thought of it. 

Felix turned to face him. The outbreak of the war had shown him a different side of his father, one that was made for war, not just politics. Because for all his belief in and devotion to chivalry and their (probably) dead royal line, Rodrigue Fraldarius was a man who had made his name on the field of battle, not politics. 

“This is Dorothea,” Felix said calmly. “She was originally a student of the Black Eagle house, but she joined us in summer. She aided our escape from the monastery.” 

He did not point out that Dorothea had been with them when they had come to Rodrigue’s aid to deal with the bandits. Either his father remembered, or he didn’t, in which case pointing it out was useless and a waste of time.

His father’s gaze went back to Dorothea again, and he gave her a short nod. “One of the young ladies who helped heal those injured in the attack during the Red Wolf Moon.”

Dorothea curtsied, a picture of demureness and feminine grace. “Yes, Your Grace.”

His father nodded again. “Welcome to Fraldarius.” His gaze flickered over the children, and his lips tightened. “Our steward will find a place for you.” 

Dorothea smiled. “Thank you, your grace.”

Felix watched his father pause. “I do not think that level of formality is required right now, young lady.” He smiled slightly. “After you have rested, your help would be appreciated in the infirmary.”

The demure lady was gone when Dorothea raised her head again, her chin tilted up proudly. “I can start right now,” she said.

His father gave her a long look, then he nodded, his countenance softening slightly. “It will do you no good to exhaust yourself. You can help more people if you are at your best.”

Dorothea seemed obstinate for a moment, but eventually she yielded. “My thanks.”

Rodrigue walked off, leaving Felix to get Dorothea settled. He did so quickly and efficiently, though he gave her a room in the castle proper, not the barracks. Dorothea seemed surprised by this, but mercifully did not tease him when he informed her that she was a friend and thus a guest.

He only stayed a few more days to help her get settled as best as he could, before he left to find the boar. The meeting with Sylvain and Ingrid had been pre-arranged and given the state of their communication, he could not just skip it unless he wanted them to suspect the worst. 

Dorothea had assured him that it was quite fine and that she had plenty to do. Felix had not been able to argue with the latter. Dorothea was a skilled healer and with the fighting between them and the self-proclaimed Dukedom heating up, her skills were in great demand. In the days she had been in Fraldarius previously, she had worked closely together with his father, who had borne a bulk of the healing work.

The other reason Felix had decided to go, without taking her along, because that had been an option as well, was that he had seen Rodrigue’s stance towards Dorothea lose most of his ruthless severity. 

He was still somewhat suspicious, but given that they were at war with Dorothea’s homeland, Felix could hardly blame his old man for that. As long as Dorothea was treated fairly, he did not see a point in interfering. 

And she was.

That became obvious over the next few months as Felix flitted in and out of Fraldarius, barely staying long enough to make his report, eat something better and get some sleep before the battlefield called him again. 

At his first return, Dorothea had simply been one of the healers, but as more time passed, her position improved and she gained a formal position in the hierarchy. Felix caught her ordering other healer or soldiers around. Once he returned and heard that his friend wasn’t in attendance because Rodrigue had tasked her with helping the retreat of one of the units after a particularly grueling battle. Another time, Dorothea and his father had been pouring over a battlemap together. And another, they were eating and chatting cheerfully. 

Dorothea seemed happy, so Felix did not worry. He had enough other things to hold his attention.

Maybe that was why it took Felix an embarrassing long time to figure out that something was going on between Dorothea and his father. Even taking into account that he spends most of his time either searching for the boar or on the battlefield. 

Still, the clues had been there before:

Doreothea and his father looking like they had just jerked apart when Felix entered the room.

Bitemarks, that Felix had steadily ignored. More so on his father than Dorothea. 

Heated looks. 

The one time he was--in retrospect--sure Dorothea had been wearing his father’s shirt. 

Them coming to breakfast together. 

Felix did not want to think about it. It was his father. Father’s weren’t supposed to have a… a sex life. 

Regardless, Felix would have preferred a slow and awkward realization to walking into his father’s office and finding Dorthea riding his father with great enthusiasm, while his father’s hand grasped her naked buttocks. 

Felix had never left a room so fast in his life.

The aftermath had been hell, and unfortunately, there had been a snowstorm going on so he could not simply embark on another search as soon as he slammed the door shut behind him. 

When he next saw them, both of them were embarrassed, but after Felix had briskly, and rather desperately, informed them they were adults and whatever they were doing was their business, they sadly got over that quickly.

Unfortunately, they also stopped being discreet.

\--

His friends were unsympathetic. Ingrid seemed thoughtful and a bit perturbed, though she cheered up quickly, saying she was happy for Dorothea, and Sylvain complimented Rodrigue on his taste. Felix needed better friends, but given that they were searching for the boar, that was unlikely to happen.

\--

Eventually, they found the boar. It did not improve the situation. Their other classmates arrived as well and that kind of did. Especially because Dorothea came. Without his father. Which meant one less thing to have nightmares about.

\--

Felix liked fighting, but he found that he did not much enjoy war. But war it was, a war that sent them following their mad king towards what was probably going to be their certain doom.

Or his. 

\--

As soon as they were back in the monastery after Ailell, Felix fled to the cathedral. Originally, he hadn’t wanted to go there and give his old man the wrong idea, but if he had to watch Dorothea trail her finger suggestively down his father’s chest one more time, he was going to do something drastic. The kiss the two had shared once they had a medicorum of privacy had been bad enough. Felix never, ever wanted to hear Dorothea offer his father to share her room ever again.

When he arrived in the cathedral it was still empty, the boar hadn’t come back yet, but that did not take long. Soon after Felix had settled in one of the pews, heavy footsteps rang out behind him. The boar showed no sign of noticing Felix, which was perfectly fine. As Felix watched, he made his way back to his customary spot in front of the ruined altar, Areadbhar cradled carefully in his hands. A spike of irritation went through Felix at the sight of the boar treating the thing with more care than he treated himself.

But he pushed it aside. It was foolish. 

The boar walked past him and Felix watched him settle into his customary pose, now with Areadbhar in hand. The sight of the lance made Felix think of his father, and he grimaced.

In front of him the boar started talking, addressing various people and promising vengeance...blablabla. It made Felix sick.

Then the boar started talking about Glenn. Felix had enough. Pettiness reared up inside him and Felix had opened his mouth before he truly thought about it.

“So,” he said. The boar did not react, but Felix continued anyway. “Since you weren’t around, you wouldn't know yet, and since you can apparently still talk to Glenn,” and he made sure to put enough disbelief in his voice to make clear that he did not believe that for even a second, “I would appreciate it if you could pass something on to my brother.”

No reaction from the boar.

“We have a new mother,” Felix continued. “Her name is Dorothea, you might remember her--brown hair, magic, swords--and she and the old man go at it like bunnies.”

Felix took great satisfaction from the way the boar's head snapped in his direction and the way his lone eye was round and wide with shock. 

He might not be able to escape the suffering, but he could make sure everyone else suffered with him. (It also helped that the boar stopped talking to the dead, if only for a while).

\--

The boar eventually got to witness the horror show that was Dorothea and his father first hand, though given the circumstances that led to it, it could have been worse.

Dorothea hardly left his father’s sight after he was confined to the infirmary after almost dying after once more living up to his title. 

Felix hadn’t talked to the boar- to…Dimitri, since it happened, but for some reason the sight of Felix’s father almost dying seemed to have scared him back to his senses and made him reassess his priorities. 

He had seen him once sprinting out of the infirmary like Sylvain sprinted from the rooms of his conquests after their fathers’ burst open their bedroom doors, eyes wild and haunted, but Felix had had no interest in talking to him. 

It seemed, however, that Dimitri was interested in talking to him.

One day, he caught up with Felix while he was walking toward the training ground. He looked uncertain, and Felix considered snapping at him to have his peace but… 

In the end he kept quiet, waking at his normal pace and waiting for Dimitri to break the silence, eventually the king-to-be did. 

“Felix… I…” he trailed off. From the corner of his eye, Felix could see him wring his hands in front of his chest. The metal of the gauntlets creaked. 

Felix took pity on him, and it was only pity and had nothing to do with his own wishes and hopes. “Are you up for a spar?”

Dimitri beamed at him and nodded enthusiastically, making his terrible hair flop in his face. 

And as they walked towards the training ground together, Felix felt lighter and had to fight back the beginnings of a smile. 

\--

His inexplicable good mood did not last long. In fact it was quickly replaced by irritation as soon as they reached the entrance to the training grounds.

“Oh!” a vaguely familiar female voice moaned, breathy and full of arousal. Felix pinched the bridge of his nose and next to him Dimitri froze in surprise, eyes going wide. 

Felix prepared himself to storm in and tell Sylvain--because who else could it be but Sylvain, who would dare make out in the training ground in the early evening?--and his lady of the hour to buzz off, when the lady continued. “Rodrigue~”

The lecture that had already been on the tip of his tongue died a quick death, and was replaced by bile. Felix’s hand froze against the door and next to him Dimitri let out a sound suspiciously like a whimper. 

Inside, a man’s voice (Felix’s father’s voice!) chuckled, in a tone that made Felix’s feel nauseous. The man (Felix’s father!) said something, thankfully too quiet to make out, and a woman moaned. Loudly.

Felix stumbled back, eyes wide. He nearly fell, but Dimitri steadied him with a hand on his shoulder. Felix looked up at him wide eyes, brain strangely empty, and Dimitri looked back at him with the same expresission, his mouth opening and closing. 

Another moan. Felix and Dimitri exchanged another look, and then, as one they moved back, but Felix froze again in horrified disbelief as the sounds in the training yard picked up. That wasn’t what the training grounds were for! Who did that?!

They only stopped their retreat once they reached the dormitories, although it felt to Felix that all the way to Enbarr might have been the better choice. He could still hear it. 

Felix slumped against the wall and next to him Dimitri stood still as a statue.

“In the training grounds…” the prince mumbled, eyes wide and scandalized. “How improper!” In that moment he sounded so very much like Felix remembered him that his heart twisted. 

But the sentiment was one he shared. “Yes,” Felix found himself agreeing. He forced himself to think of swords. It was a much better mental image. 

“And-” Dimitri said, sounding appropriately horrified and for that Felix could forgive him just about anything. “But, and, it- it’s Rodrigue!”

“And Dorothea, yes,” Felix shivered. “Don’t remind me.”

Dimitri still looked like his mind was stuck in the same horrifying loop, so Felix took pity on him. “Think of swords.” Dimitri looked at him, eyes going wider still, grimaced and opened his mouth, but Felix cut him off. “Come on. I’ll show you my Zoltan.” 

Dimitri’s eyes lit up, and they started walking towards Felix’s room, away from the training ground. And if they were walking a bit faster than normal, no one would blame them. 

\--

They had the misfortune to meet his father and Dorothea in the dining hall that evening. Both of them looked satisfied and relaxed. Felix no longer had any appetite.

\--

The war continued. The war was won. The greatest challenge was not going blind at seeing his father act like a more successful and monogamous Sylvain. There was something terribly disturbing about having your father and friend act out a love story straight out of Ashe’s books.

But at least, Felix thought, exchanging a despairing look with Dimitri, as Dorothea kissed his father’s cheeks and the old man gave her a loving look, he was not the only one who understood the suffering these days.

\--

Dorothea followed his father back to Fraldarius after the war, Felix was very glad to stay in Fhirdiad and keep an eye on the boar. There was plenty to do, and less time to think about...sights he could not unsee. 

When his father visited him in Fhirdiad to talk to him about his plans for the future, specifically if he would mind if Rodrigue remarried, Felix cut him off before he could finish more than two sentences about how happy Dorothea made him and-

Well, the old man only managed to get the first two sentences out because Felix was horrified about his father trying to have a conversation about feelings.

A week later, the formal wedding announcement was made, and part of Felix's suffering was alleviated by the way the boar’s face twisted and twitched when he found it on his desk. 

Still nothing could have prepared him for the wedding. His father was practically giddy and it was so disturbing that he and DImitri tried to keep as much distance as politely possible. Felix was terribly glad that at least one person understood his suffering, though the king’s smooth delivery of congratulations was well done (they had drafted it together.)

The most horrifying thing, however, was when they kissed after saying their vows. It just wasn’t right. 

Later during the celebration Dorothea left his father’s side long enough to drag Felix onto the dance floor. 

“Felix,” she said, as they spun between the other couples, and he spotted DImitri talking with his father to his right. “I know the two of us never talked about Rodrigue and I,” Felix nearly missed a step. He hoped she wasn’t planning on doing that now, “but you must know that I am eternally grateful.” 

They spun apart with all the other dancers, and when Felix pulled Dorthea close again, she continued, “I never thought I would have a future like this.” She looked terribly happy and Felix could not help but give her a small smile, it froze when she spoke again, “If it wasn’t for you and your grumpy self,” Dorothea told him, smiling brilliantly, “I never would have met Rodrigue. Thank you, Felix.” 

She beamed. 

She was radiant. 

And Felix felt deep, deep regret. Regret that almost swallowed him whole when he saw the way his father’s eyes followed her across the room.

There was only one upside to the mess: No one would force him to marry, surely the two of them could pop out an heir or two. It was the least they could do after all that he had to endure.

**+1 Lambert**

Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius was known far and wide as the Shield of Faerghus, and he had earned that title twice over. Once during the Sreng Campaign, and once in Duscur. 

It was the latter part that Felix probably appreciated more. If not for his father spur of the moment decision to accompany the king and his party to Duscur, things could have ended far worse. 

He had not appreciated it much when his father had originally left him behind in the care of stinky Ser Gustave.

As it was, his father lost a hand, Glenn looked a bit crispy for a while, the king gained a vicious facial scar, the woman who had apparently been the queen was lost, and Dimitri started to check all their rooms in the middle of the night to see if they were still alive.

In the beginning, things had been very tense in the capital, and even Felix, who had spent all hours of the day attached to the prince’s side, had noticed. Apparently, there had been a faction that had demanded retaliation against the people of Duscur. Thankfully, the king had very resolutely put a stop to that. 

On his nightly runs, Dimitri always came to Felix first, and, just to make sure, checked in with him as the last one as well. Although Felix had great understanding for what his friend was going through and did not mind being shaken awake twice too much (Felix had nightmares too, sometimes he dreamed no one came back from Duscur), the lack of sleep was taking its toll on him and made him clumsy in his training.

Something had to change. 

The men of House Fraldarius had breakfast with the king and his son every morning, lunch at noon, and dinner in the evening. In the beginning, King Lambert had insisted on trying to help his--very exasperated--father eat. It was just a bit silly because Rodrigue had not lost his dominant hand and could feed himself perfectly well. But the king was quite shaken by the whole experience--apparently his father’s hand had gotten in the way of a sword that was about to take off the king’s head--and his father did not mind indulging him too much.

The trauma they had all suffered was probably also the reason they had not returned to Fraldarius yet. Felix’s uncle had arrived for a while and had made arrangements with his father before leaving again. Felix missed Fraldarius a bit, but he could hardly leave Dimitri now.

So instead, he decided to stick even closer. One evening, after he had almost lost an eye because he had spaced out on the training yard, Felix grabbed his pillow and went to the prince’s room when it was time to sleep.

Dimitri looked surprised to see him when he invaded his room, but he also looked paradoxically pleased when Felix curled up in his bed and told him he was staying. Felix went to sleep like that. He woke up when Dimitri left, at least enough to squeeze his hand and send him on his way. And the next morning, he had to unwrap himself from the prince. Felix considered it a success, especially because Dimitri kept sleeping even after Felix got out of bed.

Eventually, after he had caught up on his sleep again, Felix realized that, sometimes, Dimitri would sleep through the night now that Felix slept in his room. Consequently, Felix ignored the looks he got from some of the servants when he made his way back from DImitri’s room to his own in the morning, and, for once, his father did not chide him for the inappropriateness of it. 

Rodrigue too had nights when he would check up on his sons, and while he might not approve of Felix sleeping in the prince’s rooms, he would not deny them the comfort either. 

After a while, things in the capital settled into a new normal, and sometime after that they returned to Fraldarius. Something settled inside of Felix at having both his father and brother with him at home. They did not stay forever, but for long enough that Felix felt like the worst was over. He kept writing Dimitri of course; so did Glenn, and his father wrote a lot of letters to the king as well, but for now it was good.

They returned to a Fhirdiad after three moons, and Felix was glad to see that both Dimitri and the king looked better as well. Everything returned pretty much to how it had been before Duscur. There were small differences, such as the king carrying stuff for his exasperated father, but in general, things were normal. Except for Dimitri turning up in Felix’s room on his first evening back, pillow in hand, but Felix didn’t really mind.

Things were fine and the political climate was being brought under control as well. Glenn had regained full functions in his burned hand. And before Felix realized it, almost a year had passed.

What brought his attention to this fact was the return of Dimitri’s nightmares. The first time Felix had been woken up in the middle of the night by his friend’s screaming he had been horrified, but he learned quickly how to soothe him. But the closer they got to the anniversary of the event, the worse it got, and Dimitri wasn’t the only one affected. 

Glenn preferred to keep his rooms almost too cold. 

His father kept rubbing his wrist and tracking all of them with keen eyes.

And from the way the king reacted to loud noises when his father was around, they were going to start calling him the Shield of Fraldarius (or Rodrigue, but it was weird to call his father by name) sooner or later. 

So as the person least traumatized by the whole mess, Felix decided to do something about it. The first person he recruited was the king, who agreed surprisingly easily after giving Felix a long look, then his father, who folded when he heard the king had agreed, and finally Glenn who needed to be bribed with sweets. (Urg.)

But Felix managed, and so, on the anniversary, Dimitri was surprised by the arrival of both of their father’s and Glenn in his bedroom. Felix came to, of course, but his presence was expected at this point. 

King Lambert’s cheerfulness carried over any awkwardness that might have happened, or at least, made it easier to ignore. There was something very strange about watching the king undo your father’s buttons. Glenn agreed, but Felix didn’t focus on him, but on Dimitri, who was actually very tired because he hadn’t slept much at all in the last number of days. 

Dimitri seemed a bit puzzled why everyone was here, but he was too exhausted to put much interest into figuring it out. He settled down quickly once Felix pulled the blanket up over him.

It was a bit strange once they all got into bed. His father and King Lambert were at the outside and Glenn behind Felix, but thankfully the bed was big enough that they all fit in without trouble. 

Honestly, Felix had no idea why anyone would need such a big bed.

The king was in an excellent mood and did not seem like he had any plans of going to bed soon. 

“It has been a long time since I had a sleepover,” the king mused. “I think the last time was back in the academy.”

Felix had no idea why they would have had to have sleepovers in the academy, but since he was here to sleep, he was not going to ask. 

“Dad, your hair is in my face,” Glenn grumbled, but their father only chuckled, which seemed to frustrate his brother, who moved, and in doing so put his knee into Felix's back. Felix kicked him in return, and his brother jerked back against their father, who, in a show of utter childishness, pushed him back, smushing them against the king.

Felix made a sound of frustration, but thankfully Dimitri was still asleep.

There was a rustle of fabric as the king reached over their heads to touch his father’s head. Rodrigue made an exasperated sound. 

The bed shook slightly as Lambert laughed. “Mhm, your hair really is still as soft as it used to be,” he mused, something thoughtful in his gaze. 

Felix’s father rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue.

Felix didn’t care for whatever they were going on about. He made sure Dimitri, who was miraculously asleep, was properly under the blanket, and went to sleep. It was easy to ignore the king still talking, his father indulging him, and Glenn groaning in frustration every few minutes, after he had wrapped himself around Dimitri and buried his face in the prince’s hair.

Things he learned the next morning, that he could have done without: the king snored and wanted more sleepovers, Glenn sprawled out like a starfish, and his father was a cuddler. (Also: Dimitri was well endowed.)

\--

When it was time for them to attend the officer’s academy, their fathers’ saw them off in the courtyard together. The king and his duke were standing shoulder to shoulder and exchanging fond glances. 

Every other minute the king came up with another anecdote he just needed to share about his own time in the academy, while Felix’s father encouraged him with questions and agreement. Dimitri did not seem exasperated so much as appalled, mainly because the king had apparently been fond of skipping classes to train. Felix could fully understand that, but Dimitri apparently couldn’t. Well, Felix would see about that.

Felix was glad when they left the castle behind. Almost a whole year with minimal interaction between them and their fathers and the two men's deep friendship that they never could shut up about. They had gotten worse in recent years.

\--

Felix knew something was wrong as soon as he rode into the courtyard of the royal palace behind Dimitri. 

“Son!” King Lambert boomed cheerfully, his voice carrying over the courtyard, and then he continued even more cheerful, “Son-to-be! Welcome home!”

Felix’s horse was still moving, but Felix's brain had stopped. Mechanically, he turned his head to the right where Dimitri’s face was frozen between cheer at seeing his father and shock, which probably meant he had heard the words too.

Still, there was no avoiding them so they rode over to where their family was awaiting them. Felix sought out Glenn’s gaze, but his brother’s face gave nothing away. 

“Father, Rodrigue,” Dimitri said with a smile as he dismounted. Felix followed along. 

Their fathers looked to be in a wonderful mood. They were also, Felix noted with some kind of trepidation, holding hands. It was a bizarre image, not only because Felix never would have expected his father to allow anyone to occupy his one remaining swordhand, but also because the only Fraldarius who regularly held hands with a Blaiddyd was Felix himself.

And he had been chided for the impropriety of it!

The king and his father showed no signs of letting go of each other’s hand.

“Felix, Dimitri,” Rodrigue told them with a smile, “Lambert and I have something to tell you.”

Felix chanced a quick look at his friend, who shrugged, not knowing either, but Felix, Felix had an idea. It crawled up from the deepest corner of his mind and cackled like Ingrid at an all you can eat buffet.

“Rodrigue and I are going to get married,” the king said loudly, drawing the attention of all the people in the courtyard. Except for Dimitri, no one looked surprised. Felix spotted some guards shake their head in fond exasperation. (Except for Ser Gustave, whose eyebrow kept twitching.)

“Congratulations.” Dimitri squeaked out next to him, and it was pure habit that made Felix nod along. 

“Let me tell you what we already planned for the wedding!” The king was beaming and his laughter boomed around them. He and his father were still holding hands. Glenn’s face was frozen. 

“Stop it, Lambert. I’m sure Felix and Dimitri are tired from the journey. How about we retire for now.” He gave the king a fond look, and squeezed his hand. “We can talk to them at dinner.”

“Ah Rod, I do so love it when you take charge.” The voice the king used was not appropriate for polite company. Felix’s father chuckled, sounding charmed and gave the king a look that Felix never wanted to see on his father’s face again.

Felix looked to Dimitri who met his gaze with wide eyed horror. 

Then he looked to Glenn, standing behind the king and his…fiance. His brother met his eyes, his face still expressionless. He looked dead on the inside. Felix wondered what horrors he had seen, then decided that he did not want to know. 

Glenn could keep the privilege. He was the eldest after all. Felix didn’t mind, he was sure there was enough trauma for all of them to go around.

In front of them, his father leaned into the king’s shoulder. Beside him, Dimitri made a pained sound and moved closer to Felix, who braced himself for the worst.

\--

Two month after the wedding, the Empire declared war. 

Felix, keen to escape the newly wedded bliss of his father and…his...other…father, was more than happy to accept the assignment to lead some troops to Arianrhod, even if he had to duel his brother for the honor.

He had no idea how Dimitri gained permission to come along, but he reasoned that it had something to do with the wild and hunted look in his eyes and the fact that neither of their fathers would meet his eye.

They rode out of Fhirdiad and both had to hold back sobs of relief. Behind them, a wail of betrayal rang out. Felix and Dimitri exchanged a look full of feeling before simultaneously sending a prayer to the goddess in Glenn’s honor.

Someone had to stay behind, and the duty had fallen to Glenn. He would make them proud, the proper knight that he was. 


End file.
